'Fringe' season premiere recap: Get On Your (Re)Boots!

'Fringe' season premiere recap: Get On Your (Re)Boots!

Three years ago: Olivia Dunham lost a closer-than-close partner and joined a secret division of the FBI devoted to investigating weird science crimes. Two years ago: Deadly shape-shifting terrorists from Another Earth began infiltrating our world to pursue a cryptic agenda. One year ago: Against the backdrop of mounting tensions between two imperiled, warring realities, a brainwashed hero kept seeing glimpses of a loved one she no longer recognized. Now: “Neither Here Nor There,” last night’s season premiere of Fringe, synthesized key elements of past premieres to launch a rebooted Fringeverse, one where many of the archetypes and events (surprisingly) remain much the same, with one profound exception: Peter Bishop has been scrubbed from history, apparently from the point of his childhood death. No Fringe Division adventures. Never sired a kid with Bolivia-as-Fauxlivia. No tulip field bonding with Young Olivia. Our heroes aren't quite right without a Peter in their life. Those who loved him and were loved by him feel incomplete or impaired by his absence despite not knowing him, at least as an adult. But never fear! Lincoln Lee is here! The peripheral Fringeplayer was promoted to full-time presence in the premiere, and he made an instant, positive impression -- on us, and on the team. Maybe that Peter-shaped void won't be so hard to fill after all. Bye, Pete. Enjoy your eternity wandering the nameless streets and boundless horizons of the ethereal plane...